U.S. top court sends healthcare fraud claim case back to lower court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out an appeals court ruling that went against hospital operator Universal Health Services Inc over whether it has to face a lawsuit accusing it of defrauding the government in a case arising from a Massachusetts woman's death at a mental health facility.

As part of the 8-0 decision, the high court sent the case back to a lower court, saying the lawsuit could still go ahead. The court did not definitively decide whether the parents of Yarushka Rivera, who suffered a fatal seizure in 2009 at age 19, can pursue the lawsuit against the company that they filed under the False Claims Act, a federal law that allows individuals to make claims that the federal government has been defrauded.